Graves began his political career as a Missouri State Representative in 1993. Following his first term, he was elected to be a Missouri State Senator where he served until being elected to the U.S. House of Representatives.[2]

Based on analysis of multiple outside rankings, Graves is an average Republican member of Congress, meaning he will vote with the Republican Party on the majority of bills.

Biography

Graves was born in Tarkio, Missouri. He graduated from the University of Missouri in Columbia, Missouri with a degree in Agronomy.[2]

Career

Graves worked as a farmer and businessman before serving in the U.S. House of Representatives.[2]

Issues

Presidential preference

Specific votes

Fiscal Cliff

Graves did not cast a vote regarding the fiscal cliff compromise bill, which made permanent most of the Bush tax cuts originally passed in 2001 and 2003 while also raising tax rates on the highest income levels. The bill was passed in the House by a 257/167 vote on January 1, 2013.[5]

Elections

2012

Graves was seeking re-election in 2012. He defeated Bob Gough and Christopher Ryan in the Republican primary on August 7, 2012.[6] He was re-elected on November 6, 2012.[7]

Republican Primary Results

Full history

To view the full congressional electoral history for Sam Graves, click [show] to expand the section.

2010

On November 2, 2010, Sam Graves won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Clint Hylton (D) and Kyle Yarber (write-in) in the general election.[8]

U.S. House, Missouri District 6 General Election, 2010

Party

Candidate

Vote %

Votes

Republican

Sam Gravesincumbent

69.4%

154,103

Democratic

Clint Hylton

30.5%

67,762

Write-in

Kyle Yarber

0%

47

Total Votes

221,912

2008

On November 4, 2008, Sam Graves won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Kay Barnes (D) and Dave Browning (L) in the general election.[9]

U.S. House, Missouri District 6 General Election, 2008

Party

Candidate

Vote %

Votes

Republican

Sam Gravesincumbent

59.4%

196,526

Democratic

Kay Barnes

36.9%

121,894

Libertarian

Dave Browning

3.7%

12,279

Total Votes

330,699

2006

On November 7, 2006, Sam Graves won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Sara Jo Shettles (D), Erik Buck (L) and Shirley A. Yurkonis (Progressive) in the general election.[10]

U.S. House, Missouri District 6 General Election, 2006

Party

Candidate

Vote %

Votes

Republican

Sam Gravesincumbent

61.6%

150,882

Democratic

Sara Jo Shettles

35.7%

87,477

Libertarian

Erik Buck

1.9%

4,757

Progressive

Shirley A. Yurkonis

0.7%

1,679

Total Votes

244,795

2004

On November 2, 2004, Sam Graves won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Charles S. Broomfield (D) and Erik Buck (L) in the general election.[11]

U.S. House, Missouri District 6 General Election, 2004

Party

Candidate

Vote %

Votes

Republican

Sam Gravesincumbent

63.8%

196,516

Democratic

Charles S. Broomfield

34.8%

106,987

Libertarian

Erik Buck

1.4%

4,352

Total Votes

307,855

2002

On November 5, 2002, Sam Graves won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Cathy Rinehart (D) and Erik Buck (L) in the general election.[12]

U.S. House, Missouri District 6 General Election, 2002

Party

Candidate

Vote %

Votes

Republican

Sam Gravesincumbent

63%

131,151

Democratic

Cathy Rinehart

35.2%

73,202

Libertarian

Erik Buck

1.8%

3,735

Total Votes

208,088

2000

On November 7, 2000, Sam Graves won election to the United States House. He defeated Steve Danner (D), Jimmy Dykes (L) and Marie Richey (Natural Law) in the general election.[13]

U.S. House, Missouri District 6 General Election, 2000

Party

Candidate

Vote %

Votes

Republican

Sam Graves

50.9%

138,925

Democratic

Steve Danner

46.8%

127,792

Libertarian

Jimmy Dykes

1.4%

3,696

Natural Law

Marie Richey

1%

2,788

Total Votes

273,201

Campaign donors

Comprehensive donor information for Graves is available dating back to 2000. Based on available campaign finance records, Graves raised a total of $10,293,404 during that time period. This information was last updated on May 16, 2013.[14]

Analysis

Lifetime voting record

According to the website GovTrack, Graves missed 381 of 8,660 roll call votes from Jan 2001 to Apr 2013, which is 4.4% of votes during that period. This is worse than the median of 2.2% among the lifetime records of representatives currently serving.[17]

Congressional staff salaries

The website Legistorm compiles staff salary information for members of Congress. Graves paid his congressional staff a total of $847,564 in 2011. Overall, Missouri ranked 21st in average salary for representative staff. The average U.S. House of Representatives congressional staff was paid $954,912.20 in fiscal year 2011.[19]

Net worth

2011

Based on congressional financial disclosure forms and calculations made available by OpenSecrets.org - The Center for Responsive Politics, Graves's net worth as of 2011 was estimated between $519,010 and $1,770,997. That averages to $1,145,003, which is lower than the average net worth of Republican Representatives in 2011 of $7,859,232. His average net worth increased by 3.3% from 2010.[20]

2010

Based on congressional financial disclosure forms and calculations made available by OpenSecrets.org - The Center for Responsive Politics, Graves' net worth as of 2010 was estimated between $515,013 to $1,700,998. That averages to a net worth of $1,108,005.50, which is lower than the average net worth of Republicans in 2010 of $7,561,133.[21]

National Journal vote ratings

Each year, National Journal publishes an analysis of how liberally or conservatively each member of Congress voted, as compared to other members in the previous year. More information about the analysis process can be found on the vote ratings page.

2012

According to the data released in 2013, Graves was ranked the 49th most conservative representative during 2012.[22]

2011

According to the data released in 2012, Sam Graves was ranked the 136th most conservative representative during 2011.[23]

Percentage voting with party

May 2013

Sam Graves voted with the Republican Party 98.7% of the time, which ranked 47th among the 233 House Republican members as of May 2013.[24]

Recent news

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